Energy Storage

Sony was once the leader in the lithium-ion "Li-ion" battery market. In 1991, it was the first in the world to commercialize them. It has focused mainly on compact batteries for PCs and mobile phones. The lithium-ion battery market continues to expand, driven by strong demand for mobile phones, PCs and now electric vehicles. For example, such batteries are seen in an increasing minority of pure electric forklift trucks and boats, in most off-road electric vehicles and in virtually all Autonomous Underwater Vehicles AUVs, electric aircraft and electric airships, not just in on-road electric vehicles from buses to trucks, cars and some e-bikes. Sony is noticeably absent from all this vehicle activity, despite Sony CEO Howard Stringer announced plans, in 2009, to enter the automotive battery business.

mPhase Technologies has been granted a United States patent for the unique concept of a smart battery design that could contain different battery chemistries within the same battery configuration or battery pack.

Students at Stevens Institute of Technology are working on a supercapacitor that will allow us to harness more renewable energy through biochar electrodes for supercapacitors.

It is like waiting for a bus. You wait and wait then two come at the same time. Alternatives to short lived, toxic lead acid traction batteries, with their indifferent performance, have been sought for over 100 years. Now both lithium-ion batteries and supercapacitors are near to replacing lead acid traction batteries in the many traction applications where they are still used.

A report covering the analysis of over 40,000 patents granted in the last five years in the field of energy storage technologies for electric vehicles - meaning e-mobility - shows that two Japanese players - Panasonic and Toyota now dominate the scene closely followed by two Korean firms - Samsung SDI and LG Chemical.

A report covering the analysis of over 40,000 patents granted in the last five years in the field of energy storage technologies for electric vehicles - meaning e-mobility - shows that two Japanese players - Panasonic and Toyota now dominate the scene closely followed by two Korean firms - Samsung SDI and LG Chemical.

Suppliers and developers of electric vehicles for the US Military.

Best practice in e-mobility first occurs in very different countries and with very different vehicles. The most useful events on the subject therefore need an international speaker lineup.

150 miles range is the new benchmark for affordable electric vehicles: the 100 miles range of today's pure electric vehicles will quickly become an embarrassment.

Mr. Joe Keating, director, applications engineering manager with Infinite Power Solutions, Inc. (IPS) talked to IDTechEx technology analyst Harry Zervos about the company's developments and its positioning within the emerging energy harvesting sector.

A report covering the analysis of over 40,000 patents granted in the last five years in the field of energy storage technologies for electric vehicles - meaning e-mobility - shows that two Japanese players - Panasonic and Toyota now dominate the scene closely followed by two Korean firms - Samsung SDI and LG Chemical.

Researchers at The University of Texas at Austin's Cockrell School of Engineering have created a new porous, three-dimensional carbon that can be used as a greatly enhanced supercapacitor, holding promise for energy storage in everything from energy grids and electric cars to consumer electronics.

Foreign manufacturers of electric cars in China can own only minority shares and they must surrender intellectual property on at least one of what the government considers to be the three key enabling technologies for e-mobility. These are batteries, motors and control electronics. In exchange, foreigners gain access to a market they hope will be large enough to create cash flow that can be repatriated if the dominant partner approves.

This article shares some of the research carried out for the new IDTechEx report "Electric Vehicles Military, Security, Police 2011-2021". Electric vehicles are appearing for military, security and police purposes that are on land, on and in the sea and airborne.

Energy harvesters deserve the attention they're receiving, the advent of what can be made possible through the use of ambient energy to power devices has intrigued a wide variety of technologists, developers and adopters.

Two forthcoming events in Germany reflect the intense interest in energy harvesting for electric vehicles. Energy Harvesting Europe 21-22 June covers many forms of harvesting for other applications as well and drills into the technology, investment and other aspects of harvesting in general. On the other hand Electric Vehicles Land Sea Air in Stuttgart 28-29 June is entirely vehicle oriented.

Analysts IDTechEx have added a number of carefully chosen best-in-class speakers to the lineup for their unique event that covers the whole subject for the first time. There are six on-road vehicle manufacturers plus two companies involved in off-road electric vehicles. Six organisations describe electric aircraft work and four speakers cover their inland and seagoing electric boats.

Funded with a recent $2.25 million stimulus grant from the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy, or ARPA-E, Welsch will try to make a capacitor ready for market within three years.

Today's electric family cars are useless in telling us anything about the future. The design and adoption of electric vehicles is subject to sudden change driven by surprising factors. The unique event "Electric Vehicles - Land Sea Air" in Stuttgart, Germany is alone in looking at the big picture in order to clarify what is really going on.

Unlike many conventional chemical detectors that require an external power source, Lawrence Livermore researchers have developed a nanosensor that relies on semiconductor nanowires, rather than traditional batteries.